I had to miss last month's book club meeting due to work travel. Boo Hoo. Here's the next book up! Let's keep up the good work ladies!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Engaged!
Hello Friends! Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Did you miss me? A LOT has gone on... including our recent engagement! We had a fantastic trip to Germany and France where we got to celebrate our engagement before coming back to the US and heading full speed into planning. I'm going to share a shortened version of the engagement. If you ask Ernie to tell the story, it will literally take 2 hours (it has on multiple occasions already).
We planned the Europe trip back in May when we decided against Iceland (volcano issues) with the family and since I was switching jobs, I didn't think May would be a good time to travel. So we picked September. Ernie had never been to Paris and had been interested in going. The timing was the same as Oktoberfest and we couldn't resist a couple days in Munich! Augsburg is really close and that seemed like a perfectly reasonable time to check out the town Ernie was living in when we first met. At this point, Ernie had zero intentions or thoughts of proposing there.
July rolls around. It's the annual Lind Ave block party that he so looks forward to every year. His brother, Scott, came into town and they planned on going on a bar crawl (that's what Ernie told me). Something clicked in Ernie's head and he decided instead to go to a jeweler he found on Yelp and buy a ring right there and then. The ring would be ready the first week of September so it seemed like good timing.
In Sept, we went to Lake Tahoe for my cousin's wedding. The whole family was there and Ernie found that to be the perfect time to ask my dad for his permission. In the afternoon, we went hiking on top of the mountain. Ernie was going to ask dad then but realized I had super sharp hearing on the moutaintop and Ernie knew I could hear every word he said. Later in the afternoon, we were separated and Ernie was left with dad alone. Ernie chocked and couldn't do it! Even later at the cocktail hour, I kept interrupting him to introduce him to people, so he wasn't able to ask Dad then. Even though his first few attempts were fruitless and finally he was able to ask dad. During the reception (after stalking dad even to places like the bathroom), Dad disappeared. Ernie thought he maybe went back to the Villa that our family rented - so he made an excuse to go back to change shoes because his feet were cold. That's when he asked dad. It was one time that my dad had only few words but he was very happy as far as Ernie could tell.
Dad didn't tell mom or my sister until their drive back to the airport the next day. Ernie told my brother Winnie, over shots at the reception. Seems like everyone knew but me! His family all knew since July when the ring was purchased.
My only tip off happend right before we left for the airport. I shut down my work computer. I realized that I didn't put my out of office on so I restarted. Since the computer was already fired up, I took the time to input our recent reciepts into our budget spreadsheet. I found a parking reciept from a chicago parking meter. I knew the time (5 something PM) was when I was still at work. It was a 30 min ticket and I had no idea what it was for. I went on the chicagoparkingmeter.com website and inputted the meter number... brought up a google map of wabash! Here's an IM convo with my buddy Chris aka "walking google" that basically sums up what was going on in my head (slightly edited to shorten content and fix spelling):
Me: so I'm totally a stalker. I collect reciepts to update our budget
Chris: WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!
Me: and I found one for parking
Chris: that's unreal!
Me: on a day/timethat I know I was still in the office so I figured it was Ernie's. then I wondered what the heck he was doing. so went to chicagoparkingmeeters.com. looked up the booth
Chris: uh oh. wabash
Me: and it's next to "chicago diamond experts", like 1 block south
Chris: !!!!!!! CINDY! you weren't supposed to look!
Me: well it was just a parking reciept!!!!!!! how was I supposed to know
Chris: you little sleuth!
Me: well now I feel stupid. b/c my hopes are high now and if something doesn't happen then will I be dissappionted? or excited that somethign might happen soon?
Chris: !!!!! have fun! i hope you get engaged ;)
Me: hah thanks. how did you know it would be at wabash
Chris: i suspected that's where the story was going. either there or a strip club. lol
Me: what's at wabash
Chris: all of the jewelers are on wabash
Me: oooh. i didn't know
Chris: between madison and randolph/lake
So of course, I thought something was up. I never keep secrets from Ernie but I didn't want to blow his cover or anything. I had to sit there for the whole plane ride in wonderment. It was giving me anxiety and I couldn't sleep on the plane! If you know me, I can't hardly keep my eyes open when the engine starts running. Ernie couldn't sleep either because he was rehersing his "speech" and making cry baby faces because he gets really emotional. It was a rough and long flight!
When we arrived to the airport, Ernie's baseball team was there to greet us with signs! It was so exciting! I didn't think anything would happen in Augsburg because I knew that Robert, or "Ic" as he's called, would be with us the whole time. But then I was bummed thinking it could be in Paris - that's so un "us". So then I thought that the reciept meant maybe he just went for an initial browsing and nothing was going to happen so I put my guard down.
We got back to Ic's, showered, sat and chatted with Ic's parents for a bit, then headed out into the town. Ernie showed me around Augsburg. We walked all over town. Then, Ic and Ernie started speaking in German and Ic ran off to go check out what time the bell tower closed. I asked Ernie what they talked about and he just said that Ic was tired of speaking English b/c he's not very good at it (a lie) and he was going to check when the building closed. Ernie said Ic had to run all the way up the stairs b/c the ticket lady is at the top of the tower and it didn't make sense for all of us to go up there. "Reasonable," I thought. Then I got those first date jitters thinking "omg we are alone!" We walked down Maximillian Strasse and I thought he was going to take me somewhere special. But then I saw Ic running back over by us. "Nevermind," I thought again.
We visited another friend for lunch at his Falafel stand. Ernie was getting weird and it seemed like he was stalling or something. He kept asking Ic if it was time to go visit this bell tower. Ic said "not now" or "not yet" a few times. Then, at 2:10pm, he goes "ok we go now!" So we walked over to the bell tower. I didn't notice til the way out, but right outside the bell tower, there was a sign posted with the opening hours.
Afterwards, we went to go buy me a Dirndl for Oktoberfest the next day :)
Here are also some photos of our "engagement session" in Paris! I had scheduled the photographer completely unknowing of the engagement.
We planned the Europe trip back in May when we decided against Iceland (volcano issues) with the family and since I was switching jobs, I didn't think May would be a good time to travel. So we picked September. Ernie had never been to Paris and had been interested in going. The timing was the same as Oktoberfest and we couldn't resist a couple days in Munich! Augsburg is really close and that seemed like a perfectly reasonable time to check out the town Ernie was living in when we first met. At this point, Ernie had zero intentions or thoughts of proposing there.
July rolls around. It's the annual Lind Ave block party that he so looks forward to every year. His brother, Scott, came into town and they planned on going on a bar crawl (that's what Ernie told me). Something clicked in Ernie's head and he decided instead to go to a jeweler he found on Yelp and buy a ring right there and then. The ring would be ready the first week of September so it seemed like good timing.
In Sept, we went to Lake Tahoe for my cousin's wedding. The whole family was there and Ernie found that to be the perfect time to ask my dad for his permission. In the afternoon, we went hiking on top of the mountain. Ernie was going to ask dad then but realized I had super sharp hearing on the moutaintop and Ernie knew I could hear every word he said. Later in the afternoon, we were separated and Ernie was left with dad alone. Ernie chocked and couldn't do it! Even later at the cocktail hour, I kept interrupting him to introduce him to people, so he wasn't able to ask Dad then. Even though his first few attempts were fruitless and finally he was able to ask dad. During the reception (after stalking dad even to places like the bathroom), Dad disappeared. Ernie thought he maybe went back to the Villa that our family rented - so he made an excuse to go back to change shoes because his feet were cold. That's when he asked dad. It was one time that my dad had only few words but he was very happy as far as Ernie could tell.
Dad didn't tell mom or my sister until their drive back to the airport the next day. Ernie told my brother Winnie, over shots at the reception. Seems like everyone knew but me! His family all knew since July when the ring was purchased.
My only tip off happend right before we left for the airport. I shut down my work computer. I realized that I didn't put my out of office on so I restarted. Since the computer was already fired up, I took the time to input our recent reciepts into our budget spreadsheet. I found a parking reciept from a chicago parking meter. I knew the time (5 something PM) was when I was still at work. It was a 30 min ticket and I had no idea what it was for. I went on the chicagoparkingmeter.com website and inputted the meter number... brought up a google map of wabash! Here's an IM convo with my buddy Chris aka "walking google" that basically sums up what was going on in my head (slightly edited to shorten content and fix spelling):
Me: so I'm totally a stalker. I collect reciepts to update our budget
Chris: WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!
Me: and I found one for parking
Chris: that's unreal!
Me: on a day/timethat I know I was still in the office so I figured it was Ernie's. then I wondered what the heck he was doing. so went to chicagoparkingmeeters.com. looked up the booth
Chris: uh oh. wabash
Me: and it's next to "chicago diamond experts", like 1 block south
Chris: !!!!!!! CINDY! you weren't supposed to look!
Me: well it was just a parking reciept!!!!!!! how was I supposed to know
Chris: you little sleuth!
Me: well now I feel stupid. b/c my hopes are high now and if something doesn't happen then will I be dissappionted? or excited that somethign might happen soon?
Chris: !!!!! have fun! i hope you get engaged ;)
Me: hah thanks. how did you know it would be at wabash
Chris: i suspected that's where the story was going. either there or a strip club. lol
Me: what's at wabash
Chris: all of the jewelers are on wabash
Me: oooh. i didn't know
Chris: between madison and randolph/lake
So of course, I thought something was up. I never keep secrets from Ernie but I didn't want to blow his cover or anything. I had to sit there for the whole plane ride in wonderment. It was giving me anxiety and I couldn't sleep on the plane! If you know me, I can't hardly keep my eyes open when the engine starts running. Ernie couldn't sleep either because he was rehersing his "speech" and making cry baby faces because he gets really emotional. It was a rough and long flight!
When we arrived to the airport, Ernie's baseball team was there to greet us with signs! It was so exciting! I didn't think anything would happen in Augsburg because I knew that Robert, or "Ic" as he's called, would be with us the whole time. But then I was bummed thinking it could be in Paris - that's so un "us". So then I thought that the reciept meant maybe he just went for an initial browsing and nothing was going to happen so I put my guard down.
We got back to Ic's, showered, sat and chatted with Ic's parents for a bit, then headed out into the town. Ernie showed me around Augsburg. We walked all over town. Then, Ic and Ernie started speaking in German and Ic ran off to go check out what time the bell tower closed. I asked Ernie what they talked about and he just said that Ic was tired of speaking English b/c he's not very good at it (a lie) and he was going to check when the building closed. Ernie said Ic had to run all the way up the stairs b/c the ticket lady is at the top of the tower and it didn't make sense for all of us to go up there. "Reasonable," I thought. Then I got those first date jitters thinking "omg we are alone!" We walked down Maximillian Strasse and I thought he was going to take me somewhere special. But then I saw Ic running back over by us. "Nevermind," I thought again.
We visited another friend for lunch at his Falafel stand. Ernie was getting weird and it seemed like he was stalling or something. He kept asking Ic if it was time to go visit this bell tower. Ic said "not now" or "not yet" a few times. Then, at 2:10pm, he goes "ok we go now!" So we walked over to the bell tower. I didn't notice til the way out, but right outside the bell tower, there was a sign posted with the opening hours.
Ernie ran all the way up the stairs and kept pushing me to make it up faster. Right at the top, he ripped a falafel fart in my face! Nice work Ern. Then the ticket lady saw us, Ic said something to her in German which I later learned was "The couple getting engaged are here!" She got really excited and then Ic says to us, "OK Ernie now you go up." There were 15 more steps to the very top. A few people waited on the level with the ticket lady.
The top was empty with not a tourist on site. I was oblivious and taking pictures out the window asking Ernie to point out this and that. Finally, he was like "give me that camera, I'm going to take pictures of you." But he was really just trying to get the camera out of my hands. Finally, he got my attention. We were standing in the middle of the bell tower and he started on the little speech he memorized. I don't remember all of the details other than my first words were "NO WAY!"... and then as he got on his knee I said "OH MY GOSH!" He had to ask a couple of times before I finally answered him!
I was still in shock when Ic popped up out of the stairwell and exclaims, "Is it done?!" and he was holding up a bottle of champagne and some cups. Ernie popped the cork - which ended up hitting the main bell and ringing the bell - and we celebrated our engagement! Here's a pic of Ic!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A Girls Book Club
At my friend Stephanie's suggestion, we pulled together an all-girls book club! At a record high of 16 lovely ladies from several friend-groups, we will attempt to meet once a month to chat about books... er... gossip a lot.
The boys have a bet that this will only last a few months. They have started a Tuesday night darts club for boys that they are sure we will join after the new year.
Let's prove them wrong ladies! First up:
Stephanie hosted the first gathering to "get to know you" and to pick the first book. She made some gluten-free cookies for me and specially bought gluten-free hummus! It was very sweet and thoughtful of her. I'm still eating leftover cookies she sent home with me.
The boys have a bet that this will only last a few months. They have started a Tuesday night darts club for boys that they are sure we will join after the new year.
Let's prove them wrong ladies! First up:
Stephanie hosted the first gathering to "get to know you" and to pick the first book. She made some gluten-free cookies for me and specially bought gluten-free hummus! It was very sweet and thoughtful of her. I'm still eating leftover cookies she sent home with me.
Gluten Free Wine Dinner Week at Wildfire
Save the Date - Gluten Free Wine Dinner Week at Wildfire
Wildfire & The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center are teaming up for the first ever Gluten Free Wine Dinner Week! Beginning Monday, November 8 through Friday, November 12, each Illinois Wildfire location will be hosting a Gluten Free Wine Dinner one night of the week. These special dinners will feature all gluten free fare perfectly paired with wines hand-selected from Wildfire's very own wine list by Wine & Spirits Director, Brad Wermager. Each dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. The dinner is priced at $75.00 per person, which includes a $25 donation to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, tax and gratuity. Save the date for the location nearest you as reservations are limited!
View the menu here.
Wildfire & The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center are teaming up for the first ever Gluten Free Wine Dinner Week! Beginning Monday, November 8 through Friday, November 12, each Illinois Wildfire location will be hosting a Gluten Free Wine Dinner one night of the week. These special dinners will feature all gluten free fare perfectly paired with wines hand-selected from Wildfire's very own wine list by Wine & Spirits Director, Brad Wermager. Each dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. The dinner is priced at $75.00 per person, which includes a $25 donation to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, tax and gratuity. Save the date for the location nearest you as reservations are limited!
View the menu here.
Wildfire Restaurant
Ernie’s parents treated us for my belated “birthday” dinner at Wildfire. I don’t even know how this turned into a birthday celebration but Ernie’s mom showed up with an amazing bouquet of flowers and a huge butterfly balloon. It was so thoughtful!
Right as we sat down to eat, our server was extremely accommodating to my gluten-free diet. There’s a separate gluten-free menu that you have to request. He even brought out warm gluten-free bread for me while everyone else was enjoying the rye bread brought to the table. The bread was really moist, served warm and very buoyant for gluten-free bread. It didn’t have the greatest taste but the texture was one of the best I’ve experienced for bread. The taste had that sour/sharp note of rice flour with a slightly gritty aftertaste. But no need to be greedy, they still had gluten free bread.
Though there was an extensive list on the gluten-free menu, I still went for an altered version of the daily special. I have a soft spot for halibut. The special was served as an almond crusted halibut but the kitchen so kindly prepared mine broiled. It was served with three sticks of grilled asparagus. Why does asparagus make your pee smell?
The server in fact was so cognizant of my gluten-free restruction that he forgot to bring out Ernie and Big-Ernie’s soups! So much food came out with each of our dishes and side dishes that by the time they asked the waiter about the soups, appetizers were no longer needed.
The fish was flaky and fresh. What a huge portion. The broiled version didn’t have much else to it – just a plain broiled filet of fish, basically the way I like it. A melted butter drizzle came on the side if you wanted to add a little bit of taste (and calories). I also ordered the au gratin potatoes on the side (which are made gluten-free). Warm cheese melted over scalloped potatoes! I never make these at home since the boxed variety often has flour in it and I never take the energy to make it from scratch so this was a bit of a treat. The serving size was also enormous. I really could have split this into two or maybe even three meals.
To finish off, our server even brought over a flourless chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a candle on top to celebrate my ‘birthday.’
Overall: Awesome service that completely catered to GF diets (although he did neglect the rest of the diners!) and enormous portions good for packing up half the meal. Check out their gluten-free menu in the toolbar to the left. Bon Appetite!
Right as we sat down to eat, our server was extremely accommodating to my gluten-free diet. There’s a separate gluten-free menu that you have to request. He even brought out warm gluten-free bread for me while everyone else was enjoying the rye bread brought to the table. The bread was really moist, served warm and very buoyant for gluten-free bread. It didn’t have the greatest taste but the texture was one of the best I’ve experienced for bread. The taste had that sour/sharp note of rice flour with a slightly gritty aftertaste. But no need to be greedy, they still had gluten free bread.
Though there was an extensive list on the gluten-free menu, I still went for an altered version of the daily special. I have a soft spot for halibut. The special was served as an almond crusted halibut but the kitchen so kindly prepared mine broiled. It was served with three sticks of grilled asparagus. Why does asparagus make your pee smell?
The server in fact was so cognizant of my gluten-free restruction that he forgot to bring out Ernie and Big-Ernie’s soups! So much food came out with each of our dishes and side dishes that by the time they asked the waiter about the soups, appetizers were no longer needed.
The fish was flaky and fresh. What a huge portion. The broiled version didn’t have much else to it – just a plain broiled filet of fish, basically the way I like it. A melted butter drizzle came on the side if you wanted to add a little bit of taste (and calories). I also ordered the au gratin potatoes on the side (which are made gluten-free). Warm cheese melted over scalloped potatoes! I never make these at home since the boxed variety often has flour in it and I never take the energy to make it from scratch so this was a bit of a treat. The serving size was also enormous. I really could have split this into two or maybe even three meals.
To finish off, our server even brought over a flourless chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a candle on top to celebrate my ‘birthday.’
Overall: Awesome service that completely catered to GF diets (although he did neglect the rest of the diners!) and enormous portions good for packing up half the meal. Check out their gluten-free menu in the toolbar to the left. Bon Appetite!
Celiac Screening
I tried to sign up for U of Chicago's free Celiac Screening. Unfortunately, they require you to be eating gluten for at least 8 weeks prior to the test so that automatically disqualifies me. Bummer.
For those of you who are eating gluten, but are interested in finding out if you shouldn't be- go ahead and sign up!
For those of you who are eating gluten, but are interested in finding out if you shouldn't be- go ahead and sign up!
A little behind on the blog...
Sorry friends, I have been really behind on the blog and I actually do have some updates to share! It's been so busy at my "9-5" job, er should I say "7:30am-8:30pm" job. I'm loving the work but there is just so much going on.
I'll try to get these posts out before heading out to Munich and Paris.
1) Wildfire Restaurants
2) Cookie Bar
3) Sprinkles' Gluten-Free Cupcakes
4) Udi's Gluten Free Bread
All of the above are contributing to my weight gain. Well, in addition to my lack of exercise. humpf. Mom even metioned something at my cousin's wedding in Tahoe last weekend. "Did you gain weight? You look fatter than your sister." Greeeeat, just what every gal likes to hear.
We've been getting through some of the insanity workouts but Phase 2 is reallllly intense. No normal human being should put their bodies through that. I can't wait to get a new gym membership in October. It was nice to save some money over the summer by trading in the gym membership for some outdoor activities and the Insanity workouts, but I just didn't end up working-out as much as I should. Plus, in the abscence of the races and triathalons this year, I didn't have any reason to push myself.
Some Q4 2010 Goals:
1) Join a gym. Work-Out at least 5x / wk.
2) Cook more at home and find more gluten-free recipies to post
3) and cut down on the random sweets!
I'll try to get these posts out before heading out to Munich and Paris.
1) Wildfire Restaurants
2) Cookie Bar
3) Sprinkles' Gluten-Free Cupcakes
4) Udi's Gluten Free Bread
All of the above are contributing to my weight gain. Well, in addition to my lack of exercise. humpf. Mom even metioned something at my cousin's wedding in Tahoe last weekend. "Did you gain weight? You look fatter than your sister." Greeeeat, just what every gal likes to hear.
We've been getting through some of the insanity workouts but Phase 2 is reallllly intense. No normal human being should put their bodies through that. I can't wait to get a new gym membership in October. It was nice to save some money over the summer by trading in the gym membership for some outdoor activities and the Insanity workouts, but I just didn't end up working-out as much as I should. Plus, in the abscence of the races and triathalons this year, I didn't have any reason to push myself.
Some Q4 2010 Goals:
1) Join a gym. Work-Out at least 5x / wk.
2) Cook more at home and find more gluten-free recipies to post
3) and cut down on the random sweets!
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